MADISON — Wisconsin Assembly
Republicans delivered what they called a "gesture of our
goodwill" to the newly installed Democratic governor on
Thursday, outlining some areas where they think they might
find common ground.

In a letter delivered to Gov.
Tony Evers, the GOP lawmakers said they were trying to be
helpful in detailing such areas, including an income tax cut,
a school funding increase and a reduction in borrowing to pay
for roadwork.

The move comes after
Republicans convened a lame-duck legislative session following
Evers' November defeat of Republican Scott Walker to weaken
the powers of the incoming Democratic governor and attorney
general before they took office. Republicans are also adding
staff to prepare for possibly writing an alternative state
budget to the one Evers will propose.

Still, Assembly Speaker Robin
Vos insisted at a news conference Thursday that Republicans
are looking for common ground with Evers. To that end, he said
Republicans in both the Senate and Assembly will hold an
unusual joint meeting on Tuesday so they can speak privately
with Evers.

"We know that we are in
divided government. It's different times," Vos said.
"This is a good faith effort for us to say we're looking
at what he promised, what we think we can deliver and find
ways to be able to do that together."

Evers' spokeswoman, Melissa
Baldauff, said Evers hopes Republicans will work with him to
make progress on major issues such as health care access,
transportation and education.

"However, actions speak
louder than words," Baldauff said in a statement.

The Republicans said the first
bill they intend to pass is a state-level guarantee that
people with pre-existing health conditions can't be denied
insurance, which is already guaranteed by the federal health
care law that Republicans have strenuously opposed since its
inception during Barack Obama's presidency. The Assembly
passed a pre-existing conditions bill in 2017 but it died in
the Senate and on Monday, Republican Senate Majority Leader
Scott Fitzgerald said he didn't want to "overpromise"
by suggesting it would fare better this year.

Evers has many of the
priorities outlined by the Republicans but supports different
approaches to reaching those goals. For example, he wants to
cut income taxes by 10 percent but wants to compensate for it
by reducing a tax break for corporations by $300 million, a
move Vos said would amount to a "massive tax
increase."

The Republican letter did not
put a dollar amount on how large of an income tax cut they
would support or how it would be paid for.

Vos also opposes Evers' call to
expand Medicaid to cover about 75,000 more adults living just
above the poverty line. That move would actually save the
state an estimated $180 million a year, but Vos has raised
concerns about putting more people on assistance programs
without also raising reimbursement rates for providers.

Evers has proposed increasing
spending on K-12 education by 10 percent, or $1.4 billion. A
bipartisan task force released a report last week that also
called for significant increases in funding, but it did not
say by how much.

Evers, that task force and
Assembly Republicans all say they want the state to provide
two-thirds funding for schools, which would increase overall
state school aid by about $130 million a year.